Various forms of storage systems are used today. These forms include direct attached storage (DAS) network attached storage (NAS) systems, storage area networks (SANs), and others. Network storage systems are commonly used for a variety of purposes, such as providing multiple users with access to shared data, backing up data and others.
A storage system typically includes at least one computing system executing a storage operating system for storing and retrieving data on behalf of one or more client computing systems (“clients”). The storage operating system stores and manages shared data containers in a set of mass storage devices.
These storage systems can often be large and complex systems, including clusters which have multiple nodes, each node presenting multiple virtual servers that may use multiple storage volumes that are based on storage space at various physical storage devices. As storage systems get more and more complex, it is important to have a management application that can help IT or data center managers to oversee and effectively manage the storage systems. Within such a management application and storage system, information about the system itself is subject to categorization and sub-categorization, often for many levels, thereby creating a detailed hierarchy. The management application is typically closely tied to this hierarchy. Navigation and use of the management application can become context sensitive and rigid.
At the same time, however, small storage units, for example, may be categorized from both logical and physical points of view. While some management application users may be more used to the logical point of view, others may be more comfortable understanding the storage system from a physical point of view. This problem can be compounded because various parts of the storage systems may be supplied by different vendors all having their own perspective for certain aspects of the system. As such, it can become a complex task simply to remember the way a storage hierarchy is set up and to drill down from a top level to the data that is of interest.
A solution that allows quick access to relevant information regarding storage within the complex hierarchy without the user having to learn and navigate the context sensitive hierarchy is needed.